Important risk factors for DHF include the strain and serotype of the infecting virus, as well as the age, immune status, and genetic predisposition of the patient. Primarily a disease of the tropics, Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes, and is caused by any of four related dengue viruses: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. This disease used to be called “break-bone” fever because it sometimes causes severe joint and muscle pain. A person can be infected by at least two, if not all four types at different times during a life span, but only once by the same type.
The Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday that the states of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Maharashtra had recorded a total of 231 cases of Zika virus this year.
In a letter response, Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar noted that no deaths had been reported in these three states. According to Pawar, 83 cases were reported in Kerala and one in Maharashtra.
According to the minister, 147 instances were reported in four districts of Uttar Pradesh: Kanpur (139), Lucknow (6), Unnao (1), and Kannauj (1).
Pawar stated that the state has delegated a state-level Rapid Response Team (RRT) in the district for monitoring and oversight, that vector control measures have been reinforced, and that a cooperative plan between municipal and health authorities has been formulated.
She claimed that daily samples from suspected patients are given to the King George’s Medical University (KGMU), and that the state has set up surveillance of fever cases in neighbouring districts. At the district and state levels, she added, containment measures are reviewed on a daily basis.
According to the minister, the Union government has been providing the state government with the necessary technical and other assistance in this respect.
According to Pawar, public health experts have been dispatched, and mosquito samples collected by the team have been transferred to NIMR in Delhi.
Technical recommendations for Aedes vector control, which transmits Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya infections, have been supplied to states, including Uttar Pradesh, she noted.
According to the National Centre for Vector-Borne Diseases Control’s guidelines, vector control efforts have been reviewed and enhanced, and advisories have been published to raise awareness of these actions, Pawar said.
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